Chapter 10: Leap Into the Dark
Two straight weeks Raspberyl's Father spent in near-total solitude in his office- only made 'near' solitude by the many messenger prinnys that ocassionally were allowed to enter to deliver news on delinquent activity, utterly refusing to hear anything else from the prinny messengers that were often thrown out right the moment they finished relaying the information he specifically asked for and ONLY the information he specifically asked for, and the moment they offered even a single breathe of any sort of information he didn't ask for, he threw them out with one of several signs taped to their backs, all of which read several variations of insults and explicit curse words, most of which brought the curse of the few honor students that remained laughed histerically at them the moment that enough light to read the signs illuminated the words- the only prinnys that came close to him that he didn't humiliate or physically damage in any way were the pair of guards that permanently watched over the doorway to his office, only allowing in the prinnys with delinquent reports in their hands and a sign not yet taped to their back- students wishing to talk to the Guidance Counselor were to be attacked on sight. Even Mr. Redshirt wasn't able to get any sort of contact with his former boss- not that he cared one way or another, not having to do work for him; though again Raspberyl's Father's better treatment prinnys really irritated him.
"I'm going to get in, even if I gotta kill those two prinnys!" Mr. Redshirt said under his breath as he turned his attention from harassing an innocent student to the now-fixed door to the Guidance Counselor's office. Mr. Redshirt cracked his neck twice and marched to the doorway, inevitably he was stopped by the prinny guards moving to block his entrance.
"No admittance, dood- boss's orders." prinny guard 'A' repeated that line about 50 times a day since now there were many delinquent students that felt the need to address issues around the school to the guidance counselor, though this was the first time a teacher attempted entry.
"I'm the damn vice-principal! You'll let me in because I'm technically his boss!" Mr. Redshirt barked at the guards, who seemed resolute in their defense of the office.
"Not a chance, dood; the boss-dood SPECIFICALLY told us not to let in ANYONE, especially the vice-principal- which is obviously you, dood." prinny guard 'B', both of them standing right in front of the doorway- obviously he was literally going to have to go through them both to get inside.
"And how do you two propose to stop me?" Mr. Redshirt smirked, readying his sword- he was level 1,400, they were level 100 each, there was clearly no contest.
"Plan B, dood?" Prinny Guard 'B' asked Prinny Guard 'A'.
"Plan B it is, dood!" Prinny Guard 'A' agreed.
Prinny Guard 'A' picked up Prinny Guard 'B' and threw him right into Mr. Redshirt's face quicker than he could even pull out his sword- Prinny Guard 'B' exploded in Mr. Redshirt's face- not even injuring him, but stunning him long enough to let the Guidance Counselor know.
"Dood! We've got a situation and we need your help Counselor- dood!" Prinny Guard 'A' said as he frantically slammed on the door.
"OUT OF MY WAY! I'LL GET IN THERE IF I GOTTA CUT THE DOOR OPEN WITH AN AXE!" Mr. Redshirt grabbed Prinny 'A' and threw him several feet behind, exploding him and incapacitating him as well.
"FINALLY!" Mr. Redshirt cheered for himself, though he wasn't sure why- he didn't really gain anything, and he basically did all that just to get a chance to talk to a man he hated, but a victory is a victory nontheless.
Mr. Redshirt reached for the doorknob slowly, savoring the moment while he could. Mr. Redshirt finally touched the knob, at the same time he finally realized why this victory was so sweet- he was disobeying Raspberyl's Father's direct orders! A victory so sweet, he had to open up the door quickly and surprise him in his solitude!
Mr. Redshirt swung open the door, and he was greeted with something small and wooden being violently pushed into his face and quickly puncturing through the center of his forehead, coupled with a fist delivered to his chest at the same moment of penetration- he didn't even catch a glimpse of what was inside as he was already on the ground screaming in pain and trying to pull what seemed like a thin wooden stick out of his skull.
"Tell those prinny guards that I'm finished but still no one is allowed in- with the exception of Raspberyl; and I mean NO ONE, not even myself, or you, and I will know if you go in there, and you will wish that you didn't try it when you find a railroad spike wedged into your chest the moment you touch the doorknob." Raspberyl's Father said as he deliberately stomped right where he had just punched Mr. Redshirt in the chest as he left his office, locking the door behind him.
"Will do..." Mr. Redshirt managed to cough out as he felt around the wound on his forehead- he didn't even think about these... questionable orders, all he cared about was his wound, which already felt wet. Mr. Redshirt's hand came back covered in a crude mixture of red and white liquids, both were quite thick and trickled slowly down to his wrist as he wondered what it was.
The red is obviously blood... but... Mr. Redshirt smelled his hand to try and discern what the white liquid was.
Is... this is... paint? What the hell was he painting?
"Something about this school seems... different..." Raspberyl's Father noted as he walked through the debris-free and sparklingly cleaned hallways completely free of loitering students during classes and varieties of grafitti- it made him sick as he looked at it, but still he pressed on to his target- the dean's office. Probably attesting to this radical change in scenery, Raspberyl's Father seemed to foresee Mao's group all crowded in what used to be the massive void-filled room of the dean's office, and is what was once the dean's personal throne room- that being Aurum. Just as Mao's group seemed to be wrapping everything up and leaving the office, that was when Raspberyl's Father made his presence known- though by that time it was only him, Mao, Almaz, Sapphire, and Raspberyl.
"Greetings to you all- did you have a good time defeating Aurum and overcoming your inner darkness?" Raspberyl's Father directed to Mao- he wasn't going to deal with Raspberyl... yet, the time had yet to come for that.
"How did you know about that? We know you've been locked all alone in your office all this time." Mao answered with another question, as expected.
"THAT would be a secret- just suspend your disbelief of my omniscience by figuring that I'm a greater demon than any of you ever shall be, so I logically know things that I shouldn't." Raspberyl's Father said- now he began to deal with his daughter, subtly, but it was already calculated in his mind- him talking about himself after hurting her so much the last time he talked to her would obviously get to her.
"A greater demon there never was..." Raspberyl whispered to herself, so quietly that no one could hear her. Raspberyl was a bit more than completely disgusted by her father acting in such a way- she couldn't even bear to be near him now; stealthily she began to step back so she could get away from him- this careful escape didn't escape his notice. Raspberyl was in the back of the group to begin with, in front of her was Almaz and in front of him was both Mao and Sapphire who were facing Raspberyl's Father, so literally everyone was in his way.
"Your name was Sapphire, correct?" Raspberyl's Father asked, evidently to Sapphire.
"It is, but I don't think I've caught your name..?" Sapphire gently hinted- this wasn't unexpected or an awkward situation for Raspberyl's Father, by now he had become an expert at avoiding answering those kinds of questions, usually just by ignoring them.
"If I had told you my name, I'd have to cut your ears off first and then remove your brain and place it in a jellyfish so you wouldn't tell anyone that damning information- there are only so many brainless jellyfish, you know. So I'll do you a favor and not tell you my real name; you may call me Raspberyl's Father, ok?"
"Alright, and thank you Raspberyl's Father!" Sapphire giggled.
Raspberyl hadn't made much progress in her escape, she was still hardly 5 feet behind Almaz, still too close to make her exit without any of the others noticing, but still far enough out of her father's grasp- he had to get closer.
"There's something I've noticed, Almaz..." Raspberyl's Father pushed past Mao and Sapphire to Almaz, his advance halted Raspberyl's retreat temporarily as she thought for a moment he was coming toward her, and she dare not show that she was afraid of her own father- her reputation as a badass delinquent who should respect her parents would be ruined on the spot.
"You... actually know my name?" Almaz asked, his voice shaking as the great demon neared him, all of his legendarily sadistic attention was focused on him- for a human, it was probably a very frightening experience.
"I think it's because my brain isn't totally loaded with nicotine and the many thousands of other poisons in cigarettes- or it may be because your title says 'hero', meaning you are worth more of my attention- and by consequence, respect- though not much more in either case, than say, a common demon slave; congrats on your 'hero' status- I'll kill you later, hero. It's been nice knowing you." Raspberyl's Father immediately moved his attention back to Raspberyl, still slowly retreating away from him, then he quickly returned his attention to Almaz.
"And once your heart is mine- in my hand, preferrably- I'll take that pretty princess of yours, too!" Raspberyl's Father whispered demonically- though it was a bluff, Almaz still bought it.
While Almaz was whining like a baby about Raspberyl's Father threatening to kill him and steal his future wife, as a good demon should, Mao and Sapphire laughed at the violent implications that his clearly good-natured joke and not promising threat of murdering Almaz brought- with everyone distracted, now was his chance- he swept past Almaz faster than a tornado wind. Raspberyl noticed his swift advance since she wasn't busy laughing or crying, and she turned to run- just too late.
"Don't cry, little girl- this is all for your benefit, you know." Raspberyl's Father said as he siezed her by her arm and yanked her back, well within his power to keep her. Raspberyl shrieked, now drawing the full attention of everyone.
"What do you think you're doing?" Sapphire cried, her gun already aimed at the back of Raspberyl's Father's head.
"Let me GO!" Raspberyl cried, struggling as much as her small frame could handle, but she was not nearly as strong as her father, and she couldn't even weaken his powerful grip in the slightest.
"QUIET!" Raspberyl's Father shouted out as he finished restraining his daughter with both of his hands and he spun around- he knew that Sapphire's violent streak was legendary, and any threat against her or a friend of her was sure to meet her wrath, coupled with Almaz being a hero who would inevitably try and rescue the relatively weak Raspberyl from her known demon father, and Mao being... well Mao; Raspberyl's Father knew he was going to have to get past all 3 of them to reach his target. "This is for everyone's benefit, just take my word for it!"
No one bought it, all 3 of them readied their weapons to try and save Raspberyl. Raspberyl's Father shifted his grip, his left hand restrained both of Raspberyl's arms while his right held her by the neck- just a single careless twist would end her life, but that didn't seem to register to Mao, Almaz, and Sapphire.
Damn... why did I think that would work? Hmmm I need to keep them at bay for long enough to draw out Raspberyl's darkness... actually, I think that violence- when applied properly and with a careful hand- will help with both problems!
Raspberyl's Father released Raspberyl's neck with his right hand and grabbed a knife from one of his pants pockets, and his now armed hand returned to near her neck, hardly an inch away.
"This is something that needs to be done, just hold your weapons for a minute- if you don't take my word for it, then I'll kill all 5 of us." Raspberyl's Father said, and everyone froze.
"Why are you doing this?" Almaz asked- figures a human had to a the voice of reason against him.
"There are two reasons- I'll only tell you one: killing and terrorising is in a great demon's nature, and what better way than to threaten a bunch of innocent children and even my own daughter?" Raspberyl's Father said, putting up a flawless facade of total apathy and cold logic- this time, EVERYONE bought it, even Mao.
"You three will leave us, you may return in 10 minutes- by then, only one of us will be here, and you may do as you will."
They did so, leaving Raspberyl to the mercy of her murderous father.
"Father... why..? Why? WHY?" Raspberyl began to sob, wetting his left arm with her tears within seconds.
"Ecstasy, daughter- there is no replacement for pure, sadistic torture to give myself the feeling of pure joy; the more the better- and this is almost as perfect... as the day your mother died." Raspberyl's Father whispered sinisterly- THAT was the trigger, he knew- the transformation was about to begin.
"All this time I've been watching, like a tiger watches his prey; letting you live today so the joy of murder tomorrow would be all the sweeter."
Now it began, but it certainly didn't climax yet. Waves of black air swirled about in a vortex around Raspberyl and her father; a cold wind began to blow from nowhere- the pure energy made it difficult for Raspberyl's Father to keep his grip, but he was still stronger- the darkness had not nearly reached it's peak, and that's where he needed it- more provoking would be necessary.
"Graduation? From this school? Certainly a first, but not today- was that your way of escaping me? A pathetic attempt, a legend I will become, for slaying the one who almost made it. Your mother would be proud indeed- for one of us, at least."
A more furious surge of dark energy erupted from nowhere, and another, more frigid air gusted about, making holding Raspberyl extremely difficult, but not impossible- she was close, but not quite there yet.
Just a little bit more... just one more!
"WhAT... HApPenNed TO MoThEr?" Raspberyl asked in a darker voice, her tears ceased to pour, and already small flashes of dark energy began to spin about.
"She just kept screaming for mercy from a god who would give her none- I think letting you live was enough mercy for that day, so I took her life instead!"
A shockwave blasted Raspberyl's Father across the room straight into the marble walls- Raspberyl's darkness had fully awakened, and it's prime target was so near, so simple to kill. After wrenching himself free from the wall, Raspberyl's Father looked upon the effigy of darkness that was once his daughter, and he was sickened at it's sight.
"This is what I've created? A soul so luminous, a mind so sharp, and yet... with a heart so dark... so like myself- a path that must not be traveled again. I will end this, even if I have to give up everything I once defended so adamantly." Raspberyl's Father mused, walking slowly toward Dark Raspberyl.
"WheRe Is MoTHeR, fAThEr? I MiSs moThER!" Dark Raspberyl shrieked as she held her head with both hands, searching around the room wildly for her mother that wasn't there.
"You'll need to find that out yourself... maybe by tearing the answer right out of my heart..." Raspberyl's Father carefully taunted her; taking the bait, Dark Raspberyl began to charge toward her father at incredible speed- faster than any human could follow, and even fast enough to shoot right through the marble walls- but not quite fast enough for her father.
Raspberyl charged straight at and slammed into her father at full speed, who held his ground and caught her in his arms, holding himself in place as best as he could manage against the incredible impact. Another shockwave erupted, but this time Raspberyl's Father's grip wasn't weakened in the slightest- tightly he held Raspberyl against his chest, not ever going to release his grip until he either lost his arms, or he finished what he had started.
Dark Raspberyl struggled violently against her father's grip, but he didn't lighten up in the least.
Almost... just a little bit more...
"Is that all you got? Such a waste, simply ripping your heart out will be such a simple task at this rate! I hoped for a challenge!" Raspberyl's Father taunted. Dark Raspberyl struggled so violently that she seemed to be having a seizure, all the while violent gusts whipped about and dark energy spiralled violently, forming a small black tornado around them- Raspberyl's Father didn't falter in the slightest. Raspberyl's Father positioned his daughter so her head was just above his shoulders, giving her room to struggle all she wanted, though all it did was tire her out.
It took some time, but slowly Dark Raspberyl began to calm down, if only marginally, and she began to cry again, more out of fury than sorrow, though. Raspberyl's Father also calmed himself- he slowed his breathing, and carefully monitered both his own and what he could feel of his daughter's heart rates, until they finally matched in perfect sync- he then accelerated his breathing to make his slower heartbeat to match Dark Raspberyl's furiously pounding heart. More time passed, and eventually Dark Raspberyl noticed the steady bump... bump... bump... of the two hearts matching heartbeats, and she finally gave up struggling against him, and as she did so her father carefully slowed down his own heart to keep them in sync- it was a long, difficult process, but it seemed to have worked.
"Steady yourself." Raspberyl's Father said quietly, and she did so. "As much as you must hate me for all I've done, I'm still your father; all this pain you've been given from me, let me take it from you- all of it. Let your hate for me be the fuel that gives you the will to do so; in taking this pain, I burden myself- let that, if nothing else, give you the will to do this."
Thunder booms echoed thorughout the room, lightning shot about, as if from nowhere; a shell of light enveloped Dark Raspberyl and her father, the terrible force of Dark Raspberyl's power drifted away, until it was non-existent; at the same time, a small channel of darkness was drawn forth from Raspberyl's heart and it was drawn into her father's heart, just as he had wanted. Both of them were tired and beaten from the struggle, slowly a wave of light enveloped them both, until finally the darkness of Raspberyl's heart was fully channeled to her father's heart.
Raspberyl regained her senses in the battle-scarred room where Aurum finally fell- craters and debris from all sides of the room littered the room; she had awakened much too late to talk to her father like she so fervently wanted to- he had left long ago, along with the darkness of her heart. Raspberyl wildly searched the room for her father, but he wasn't there, only Mao, Sapphire, Almaz, and Mr. Champloo were in the room with her, all of them were playing cards until they noticed she was awake. Everyone but Mao quickly huddled toward Raspberyl to check if she was ok; Mao pretended to be indifferent, though he couldn't help but glance in her direction, if but for a minute.
"Quite the talk you two had, huh? Is everything better now?" Sapphire asked quite directly.
"No... I need to speak with him... where is he?" Raspberyl asked back, she wasn't given a reply for about 30 seconds while everyone exchanged worried looks.
"He told us that he was done with you and that we could come check on you now, then he headed to his office to collect his things and leave- he said everything was taken care of to Sir Mao's Father, as well." Sapphire finally said. Raspberyl offered no reply, she simply bolted and began sprinting as fast as she could've toward the Guidance Counselor's Office.
Raspberyl shoved passed the prinny guards before she even realized she actually had permission to enter anyways and she pushed the door open as fast as her small body would allow, she was greeted with her most pessimistic expectation- an almost empty room, empty in the sense that no one was in there, but still something she would never have imagined was there. The desk was gone, as was the chair and wastebasket, which was all that was in the room before, all that remained in the room was a dirty newspaper carefully laid on a cleared spot on the floor, and a painting.
The painting was large- about 4 feet tall and 2 feet wide- and it showed a couple, one of whom was a young Raspberyl's Father, the other of whom was a woman Raspberyl had never seen before, but she instantly knew who it was- her mother.
Raspberyl's Father (on the left side of the painting) looked drastically different than what Raspberyl had come to know him as: he didn't have a cigarette in his hand or mouth, as he nearly always did whenever Raspberyl had seen him throughout her life; his jet-black hair was quite neatly cut short rather than sprawled across his head wherever it happened to be when he woke up; his eyes seemed a great deal less dark and tired; and he had a peaceful smile on his face- not sadistic, not devious, not a sarcastic smile made just for the sake of the picture, but a genuine, peaceful smile like Raspberyl had never seen him make; really the only similarity between this man and the father Raspberyl had grown up knowing was that he wore similar all-black clothing to show off his physique, his shirt was nearly the same, only made nearly by a tie- of all things- and a fairly loose-fitting black jacket; as for pants, he wasn't wearing the same thousand-pocket pants he always seemed to wear as long as Raspberyl had remembered, just plain, boring black pants- both his shirt and pants looked quite soaked in a suspiscious crimson liquid that looked strangely like blood.
Raspberyl's Mother (on the right side) was just as one would expect from such a title as 'Raspberyl's Mother'. She looked like an exact copy of Raspberyl, but older- though she couldn't have been much older than 2,000. Raspberyl's Mother's hair was pink, as would be expected, but it was down just past her shoulders and a bit ruffled compared to Raspberyl's Father; she had a smile much like Raspberyl's Father did, but hers was more of a smile of anticipation rather than serenity; she was wearing a tight short-sleeved crimson red shirt that gave a nearly shameless view of her breasts- they were still covered enough, even by human standards- below she wore a long skirt of the same dark red shade of color as her shirt, though both her shirt and skirt seemed to have several odd stains of white liberally spread across all visible parts. After looking at her clothes for long enough, it became evident that her clothes weren't both crimson red, but rather white and they were so drenched with blood that they looked crimson red
After examining the painting for what seemed like hours, Raspberyl finally took a look at the newspaper on the floor. It was dated over 1,700 years ago, making it even older than Raspberyl, though you wouldn't be able to tell since it was so carefully preserved- only the front page though, which had a black and white copy of the painting in giant letters; the caption below stated: "A newly wed couple named... (right) and... (left) were witnessed in killing over 3,000 demons of assorted races and levels, ranging from less than 20 to more than 1,000! (see next page for whole story)" (where the names where, there were rips in the paper)
Raspberyl was disappointed that she didn't learn her mother's name, but she was very... relieved, would be the closest word as to how she felt- relieved that her father wasn't a total monster as she had thought when he first arrived- but she just couldn't stop thinking about the small rips in the paper where both their names would have been. Raspberyl looked at the painting one last time for some clue as to their names, but there was nothing. Raspberyl looked down at the floor in dismay- and that's when something caught her eye. A small piece of paper, not even 3 inches in length was taped to the bottom of the painting, though it seemed even smaller since it was attached to the large painting. Raspberyl removed it, and she couldn't help but laugh at how convenient the message was.
"Elena-Marie" read the first small slip of paper in newspaper print, and the other read "Dietrich". Raspberyl looked at the paper to which they were attached, it read:
"Humans gave me this name many thousands of years ago, I liked it, so that's my name- Raspberyl's Father"
Raspberyl cried and laughed simultaneously at the message- though this was obviously not his current preferred name, it was nice to have a little secret just between the two of them since everyone else who knew was probably dead.
A.N.- I am... less than satisfied at how this turned out, though granted, I typed this chapter up 3 different times, each of them I HATED how they turned out so much, I started over- this one is... satisfactory, at best. Mostly so I can be lazy, here it is- I hope you all like it better than I do.
Post Author's Note- Oh, and there's one more chapter to go- the story is over, but there's gonna be an epilogue, so be on the lookout for that.